My Father, My Enemy
by oXShadowXo
Summary: Everybody knows the story of how Luke Skywalker bested the Emperor and Darth Vader to bring peace to the galaxy. But what nobody knows is what Luke was thinking the night on Endor, and then on the Death Star. This is Luke's POV of what happened in ROTJ
1. Endor

I know that some people may not like this because it's the end of ROTJ only in Luke's POV. Just give me a chance…I think you'll enjoy it. This is just something I thought up on the spur of the moment…enjoy

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars. George Lucas does.

My Father, my Enemy

Huddled in a small hut on the forest moon of Endor, I was a barge of sadness in a sea of joy.

No, sadness was not the right word, maybe I was apprehensive. But either way, the Ewoks had declared that Han, Leia, Chewbacca, R2-D2, and their new golden god, C-3PO were now an official part of their tribe, and I could not celebrate. Han and Leia, I could see, were trying to make an effort to look cheerful, but I knew they were nervous as well. But I found I could not stay there, and so I left the hut, out into the misty night on a small road high in the trees, to be alone and to think.

But I was not alone for long. "Luke…what's wrong?"  
I turned around to see Leia standing there, her face masked with confusion. My sister, but she didn't know it.

Yet.

I felt within me that now was the time to tell her. I sat down on the rail. "Leia, do you remember your mother, your real mother?"

She sat down next to me. "Just a little bit…she died when I was very young." Her smile was sad and wistful.

"What do you remember?"  
"Just images really…feelings."  
"Tell me." I pressed gently.  
Leia thought. "She was…very beautiful…kind…but sad. Why are you asking me this?"  
I struggled to find the right words to say, "I have no memory of my mother. I never knew her."

Leia sat up. "Luke, tell me, what's troubling you."

What's troubling me? I merely blinked, I knew that I had to be strong, but the knowledge that I was going to face my own father, and the temptation of the dark side shook me. I looked into her eyes. "Vader is here. Now. On this moon."  
"How do you know?"

I shrugged. "I felt his presence. He's come for me; he can feel when I'm near. That's why I have to go. As long as I stay I'm endangering the group, and our mission here. I have to face him."

"Why?"  
There it was.  
It took more strength to say the next words, "He's my father."

It was a defining moment, for me to finally acknowledge him as my father. But the moment was over, and I had to look to the future.

Leia looked at me with disbelief. "Your…father?" She breathed.

"There's more. It won't be easy for you to hear it, but you must. If I don't make it back, you're the only hope for the Alliance." I said fast.

"Luke, don't talk that way." Leia said. "You have a power that I…I don't understand…and could never have."

I calmed her. "You're wrong, Leia. You have that power too. In time, you'll learn to use it as I have." I paused, trying to find the right words. "The Force is strong in my family. My father has it…I have it…and…my sister has it."

Leia sat there, stunned. Her eyes grew big. "Yes, it's you Leia."  
She leaned back a little bit, looking at her hands. "How did I know? Somehow…I've always known."  
"Then you know why I have to face him…"  
"No!" She stood. "Luke, run away. Far away. If he can feel your presence that leave this place." She spoke passionately. "I wish I could go with you…"

"No you don't." I stood too. I could feel that how torn she was, to stay with her brother or with Han here on Endor, and I could only help her make the right decision. "You've always been strong."  
Leia choked. "But why must you confront him?"  
"Because, there's good in him, I've felt it. He won't turn me over to the Emperor, I can save him…I can turn him back to the good side. I have to try."

I embraced Leia tightly, and then I turned and left.

It broke my heart to leave Leia standing there on Endor. I could feel her pain and confusion as clearly as if it was my own, and it broke my heart. There were so many things left unsaid, that might remain unsaid, if my mission failed.

Sister. Brother. And the even more dreaded title: Father. It's too much….too much to accept. But we have to…we have no choice.

I trust that Han would take care of her. He tries to put on a tough guy appearance, but I can tell he really loves my sister, and he'll be good to her. I left without saying goodbye, because I know he'll want to go with me, and this is something that I must do alone.

I know the dangers that I am facing. It's what Ben and Yoda always warned me about: the temptation of the dark side. But I will not fight Darkness with Darkness. I know there is still good in my father, and I can turn him back to the good side of the Force. But if I cannot, I am prepared to die. Maybe it will be up to Leia to carry on after all.


	2. The Launch Pad

It didn't take me long to be found. I surrendered my lightsaber without a fight. It would have been useless to fight, a waste of life.

I could sense the man's fear far before I saw him, or he saw me. But now he is full of pride at having 'captured' me. He thinks that he will be promoted because of his actions.

He doesn't know that there won't be an Empire after this night. Not if I can help it.

I was taken to the launch pad. My hands were bound, and I was heavily guarded as though they thought I might do them harm, when it was I who surrendered to them. The door of the turbolift hissed open, and almost immediately I found myself face to face with Darth Vader.

Anakin Skywalker.

My father.

I hardly dared to breathe. "This is a rebel that surrendered to us." The commander said. "Although he denies it, I believe there may be more of them, and I request permission to conduct a further search of the area. He was armed only with this." And he handed Vader my lightsaber. Not my father's, mine. The one that I created, with a green blade.

Vader took it almost hesitantly, before telling the commander, "Good work. Leave us. Conduct your search, and bring his companions to me."  
"Yes, my lord." The commander bowed, and he and the Troopers left. I was left alone on the bridge with my father, the person with whom it came down to kill or be killed.

We began to walk. "The Emperor has been expecting you." He said, facing ahead.

"I know…Father." I said, also determinedly staring straight ahead.

He gloated. "So, you have accepted the truth."  
Did you expect me not to, father? Did you expect me to turn away crying? No, I have become stronger than that, I haven't shed a tear since your soldiers killed the only family I ever knew, back on Tatooine. You may underestimate me.

It might be your downfall.

"I've accepted the truth that you were once Anakin Skywalker, my father." I said stubbornly. No, Lord Vader was not my father. But he had once been.

Anakin Skywalker.

He turned sharply. "That name no longer has any meaning to me."  
"It's the name of your true self you've only forgotten. I know there is good in you; the Emperor hasn't driven it from you fully." I insisted. Then I turned away. "That was why you couldn't destroy me, that's why you won't bring me to your Emperor now."

Vader paused, and then ignited my lightsaber. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck rise slightly. Could I have been wrong? Would he simply kill me now?

No. He merely said. "I see you have constructed a new lightsaber. Your skills are complete. Indeed, you are powerful, as the Emperor has foreseen."  
And then he turned it off. I turned back to look at him. "Come with me." I pleaded.

His back was still to me, but not for long. "You don't know the power of the dark side. I must obey my master."  
But I shook my head. "I will not turn. And you'll be forced to kill me."  
"If that is your destiny." Vader said indifferent.

I took a step towards him. "Search your feelings father. You can't do this. I feel the conflict within you, let go of your hate!"

But Vader shook his head. "It is too late for me, son."

And I realized he certainly could do this, as he opened the opposite turbolift door, and several Storm Troopers filed out. "The Emperor will show you the true nature of the Force. He is your master now."  
I shook my head in pity. "Then my father is truly dead." And I allowed myself to be led away into the turbolift. Vader watched me until the doors closed, and I never once took my eyes off of where his should be. Only his were hidden behind a mask of black.


	3. The Death Star, Part One

Vader didn't say a word to me while on the shuttle. Nor did he when we were on the Death Star. He seemed to be struggling with something, and I hope that my words at the launch pad had somehow worked their way into his black, artificial heart. But when I was led into the Emperor's chambers beside my father, I knew that he'd not taken in a single word I'd said.

The walk up the stairs seemed to take an eternity. But I held my head high, even walking a little faster than Vader at one point. Then, the chair where the Emperor sat turned to face us.

"Welcome, young Skywalker. I've been expecting you. You no longer need those." He said softly, and with just the gentlest movement of his wrist, my binders fell to the floor.

He was deathly pale, and almost completely concealed behind a black hood. He seemed almost gentle, but a warning went off in my head. Wasn't deception part of the dark side?

"Guards! Leave us." He commanded. Several figures in red robes that I hadn't noticed before turned and left the room.

He gave a slight smile. "I'm looking forward to completing your training. In time you will call me master."  
"You're gravely mistaken." I barely recognized the voice as mine. "You won't convert me as you did my father."

He stood up. "Oh no, my young Jedi." He walked towards me. "You will find that it is you who are mistaken. About a great many things."

Vader finally spoke. "His lightsaber." And he held out my only weapon. And the Emperor took it. "Ah, yes. A Jedi's weapon…much like your fathers. By now you must know that your father can never be turned from the dark side…so will it be with you."  
"You're wrong." There it was again, that strange quality of my voice that didn't make it mine, but it had to be. "Soon I'll be dead, and you with me."  
He chuckled then, and oh, I can't even begin to describe the evil that radiated from that laugh. It struck me deep to my bones, and it was all I could do from showing it. I wouldn't give the Emperor the satisfaction of knowing he was getting to me. "Perhaps you refer to the imminent attack of your Rebel fleet." Unwillingly, my face fell. "Yes, I assure you. We're quite safe from your friends here." He snarled, and turned around.

I fought the fear out of my voice. "You're overconfidence is your weakness." I challenged him.

"Your faith in your friends is yours." He shot back, returning to his chair.

"It's pointless to resist, my son." Vader advised me.

I looked at him in shock.

Palpatine called back to me. "Everything that has transpired has done so according to my desire. Your friends up there on the Sanctuary Moon are walking into a trap. As is your rebel fleet." He kept on, like an prophesying angel of death. "It was I who allowed the Alliance to know the location of the shield generator. It is quite safe from your pitiful little band. An entire legion of my best troops awaits them."  
He leaned in, as though sharing a secret with me. "Oh, I'm afraid the deflector shield will be quite operational when your friends arrive."

I shook as I realized horribly how right he was. Everything fit. I knew that Lord Vader could sense me on that Imperial Shuttle! And he must have allowed our Bothan spies to bring in that false information. I shook a lot.

"Come, boy." He invited me. Vader pushed me slightly, but I didn't stumble, and I walked closer to the Emperor. "Come see for yourself. From here you will witness the final destruction of the Alliance…and the end of your insignificant Rebellion."

I looked out the revolving window to indeed see several rebel cruisers locked in conflict with several distinct Star Destroyers. And it pained me to see the blaster fire flickering in space.

I summoned every shred of self control I could find, and turned to look at him. Then, I noticed my lightsaber sitting freely on the armrest of his chair.

He followed my gaze. "You want this…don't you? The hate is swelling in you now."  
I started taking deep breaths and turned away. "Take your weapon. Use it. I am unarmed. Strike me down with it. Give into your anger! With each passing moment you make yourself more my servant!"  
I turned back to him then. "No." Was all I managed to get out.

"It's unavoidable. It's your destiny. You like your father are now…mine."

For several unbearably long moments, all we did was watch the space battle. It looked bad. None of the fighters were going for the Death Star. The shield was still up. "As you can see, my young apprentice, your friends have failed." He let that sink in for a minute, then continued. "Now, witness the fire power of this fully armed and operational battle station! Fire at will, commander!" He spoke into the comlink.

I've never felt so helpless. At the mercy of these two devils, all I could do was watch in horror as space lit up with the explosion of one of the rebel cruisers as the Death Star fired. I looked at Vader, but his emotions were impossible to read behind his mask.

Palpatine hissed at me. "Your fleet is lost! And your friends on the Endor moon will not survive. The Alliance will die…as will your friends."  
Once again, I forced myself to look at him, and I found my gaze looking down at my lightsaber. I was trembling. "Good. I can feel your anger." The Emperor breathed. "I am defenseless, take your weapon! Strike me down with all of your hatred, and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!"  
I turned around in defiance once more, but I could bear it no longer. Calling on the Force that bound all things, my lightsaber leapt into my hand, and I hurled it down at the Emperor…

…only to be blocked by a red blade. I looked up into Vader's face. Sparks flew from the collision of the two blades.

And the Emperor laughed.


	4. The Death Star, Part Two

Rage like I'd never felt before was building up inside of me. I drew on its power as Vader and I circled in the throne room. I struck again and again, harder and harder, only to be parried by my father, until finally, I kicked at him-a ruthless trick- and he fell backwards down the stairs.

The Emperor's malicious cackling invaded my thoughts. "Use your aggressive feelings, boy! Let the hate flow through you!" He called out to me, as though he were watching a game of sabacc.

The rage I'd felt melted away as I saw Vader struggle to get up, and heard the Emperor's cackle. I was doing exactly what Palpatine wanted me to do, and the knowledge of this horrified me.

"Obi-Wan has taught you well." Vader said.

"I will not fight you, Father." I called out, my voice cracking.

Vader began to slowly climb back up the stairs as I stepped back away from him. "You are unwise to lower your defenses!" On the last word, he lunged at me, saber flashing. Just in time I managed to parry, but I stumbled. We fought a few more seconds, but I deactivated my saber, and leapt up to a gantry. I'd heard something else in my fathers' words. "Your thoughts betray you father. I feel the good in you…the conflict."  
"There is no conflict." He said angrily.

But I was equally certain that there was. "You couldn't bring yourself to kill me before, and I don't believe you'll destroy me now."

"You underestimate the power of the dark side." Vader warned. "If you will not fight, then you will meet your destiny."  
With a single motion he hurled his lightsaber at me. I ducked…but it sliced through the beam that supported the gantry I stood on. I leapt off of it before it fell, but I landed so it hid me. Vader picked up his lightsaber, and came after me. "You cannot hide forever, Luke." He called.

"I will not fight you!"

I would not use darkness to fight darkness. If Vader used evil to fight, I would not. And even if I lost…I would not join the dark side.  
"Give yourself to the dark side. It's the only way you can save your friends."  
He'd touched a nerve. I closed my eyes, struggling to conceal any thoughts and memories of Leia and Han.  
He knew he was getting to me. "Yes. Your thoughts betray you. Your feelings for them are strong. Especially for…your sister! So…you have a twin sister! Your feelings have now betrayed her too. Obi-Wan was wise to hide her from me. Now his failure is complete. If you will not turn to the dark side…then perhaps she will!"

I screamed, lightsaber flashing. I leapt out at him. I was struggling with myself again. If he turned his black, evil hands on Leia, I would kill him with my bare hands. Forget good and evil. Forget the Emperor. I would kill him.

With hatred in my heart, I beat at Vader savagely. It was like I wasn't even there anymore, but another Luke Skywalker had taken my place. Hot, bubbling hate poured through my entire body.

We maneuvered to a shaft that stood over the power core. I forced Vader to his knees. Yelling with each blow I dealt, I knocked his saber out of his hand…and in doing so cut it off.

I held my lightsaber at his throat. His breathing was ragged. It was a wonderful feeling, knowing that I held his life in my hands. His artificial breathing was ragged. One twitch, and my father would be dead.

But once again, the Emperor interrupted. "Good!" He praised me. I looked up, gritting my teeth. "Your hate has made you powerful." He breathed. "Now, fulfill your destiny, and take your fathers place at my side!"

Slowly, I turned back to Vader. I looked at his hand. It was mechanical. And I looked at my own mechanical hand.

How can I describe the emotions in that moment? The hate melted out of me, replaced by shame. I trembled, and sighed. I looked over at Vader, so much like me, and yet so little. Father and son. But never master and apprentice.

I knew that what to do. "Never." I deactivated my lightsaber, and threw it at Palpatines' feet. "I'll never turn to the dark side. You've failed, Your Highness. I am a Jedi, like my father before me."  
Palpatine drew himself up to his full height, fury etched in his face. "So be it. Jedi."


	5. The Death Star, Part Three

"If you will not be turned, you will be destroyed!"

Lightning burst out of his fingertips, right at me. I've never known such a corruption in the Force. I doubled over onto my knees, wincing in agony.

"Young fool." Palpatine mused. "Only now, at the end, do you understand."

Vader was crawling, like a wounded beast, to the Emperor's side. I didn't think it possible, but the lighting increased in intensity. I rolled on the ground, writhing and twisting. It felt like my entire soul was just being dragged out of me. "You will pay the price for your lack of vision!" He spat at me.

I twisted. "Father, please! Help me!" I screamed. "Help!"

I screamed louder and louder, until finally, the volts stopped coming. But the hell wasn't over. "Now, young Skywalker. You will die." And Palpatine smiled.

I was hit again and again by the Force-lightning. I was on the verge of unconsciousness, waiting to join Yoda and Ben in the Force…

When Lord Vader (my father!) leapt up from where he'd been sitting quietly the past few minutes, and grabbed the Emperor. Palpatine continued to shoot the malignant lightning, and he struggled, but Father held him tight. He threw Palpatine over the rail into the power core, and collapsed. He tried to follow the Emperor to the end, but I slowly got up, and pulled him back to safety. We lay entwined together on the dying Death Star, for now violent rocks shook the station.

It was too late for him, I saw that immediately. The lightning had shocked his artificial system, and his breathing was forced. But I still had to get him out of there.

Outside of the throne room, it was chaos. Officers and Troopers were running, trying to escape, barking out last minute commands, standing in stubborn defiance. I tried to carry Vader, but I was too weak, too weak from the attack by the Emperor, and we both collapsed. I tried to drag him, but I had to stop. I knelt beside him. "Luke…help me take…this mask off." He murmured weakly.

I shook my head. "But you'll die."  
"Nothing…can stop that now. Just for once…let me…look on you with my own eyes."  
I deftly nodded. Slowly, painfully, I lifted the mask off of him, revealing the mystery behind the mask for so long.

It was the sad face of an old man. Pasty white skin, because he hadn't seen the sun for twenty years, with scars twisting around his skull. It was the first, and last, time I would ever see my fathers face.

He smiled. Now his voice was even fainter. "Now, go my son. Leave me."  
I shook my head. "No, you're coming with me! I'll not leave you here I've got to save you!"

"You already have, Luke. You were right. You were right about me. Tell your sister…you were right."

A cold feeling slipped through me. "Father. I won't leave you."  
His eyes closed. "Luke." He sighed, as the life left him.

Anakin Skywalker was dead. Lord Vader had been dead.

I stared at him in shock. He was really gone. I bowed my head sadly. But there was no time to waste. I had to get out.

I reached out to the Force, and Anakins' body lifted up. It drifted into the docking bay, where there was an imperial shuttle. I ran in, and took off. I took a deep breath in nervous anticipation as the shuttle flew out of the Death Star, and the Death Star blew behind me.


	6. Endor

I was the only person there for the funeral of Anakin Skywalker. I kept a lonely vigil as I laid his body on a bed of wood, and set it alight. I stepped back as the material of the suit that had kept him alive for so long caught fire. Smoke slowly lifted up to the heavens, and I felt the gentlest breeze stir my hair. And I knew that all was well. I could almost here 'Luke' being softly whispered through the trees.

I looked up. Star fighters were shooting fireworks in the night sky, and I looked to where the Death Star was still burning out. I looked back to my fathers' body, and I whispered, "Thank you."

Sounds of the Ewoks celebration reached my ears. When the fire finally died, and the last remnants of the Empire was gone, I left to find my sister.

Leia enveloped me in an enormous hug when I found her. Brother and sister were reunited again, as they should be. Then I saw Han. Words failed me as we embraced, just thankful to be able to see each other.

Chewbacca gave a mighty Wookie roar and embraced me so tightly I almost choked. I smiled, and then found that I couldn't stop.

I looked across the fire, and I thought I saw three figures. Yoda…Ben…and yes, there was Anakin, my father. I smiled still even wider, until Leia came to see what I was doing. I turned away from the three ghosts watching protectively over us.

I knew they always would.


End file.
